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Sunday, December 2, 2012

Been wanting to get a view
of the International Space Station ? Or maybe you've already seen it and
want to show your friends? This week and next there are two great viewing
opportunities (from Dale County area).
Times and viewing locations are listed below - Good Luck !!

Saturday, 08 Dec 2012 - at
6:34pm, ISS will be in SE sky (129 deg azimuth) and almost directly overhead
(83 deg elevation). It will be flying from right to left.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012
- at 5:39pm, ISS will be in NW sky (318 deg azimuth) and 60
degrees above the horizon. It will
be flying from left to right.

Want to check satellite
flyover times for yourself? Check out this link - you can give it your
location then get a 5-day forecast on satellites that are bright enough to see
without a telescope.http://www.n2yo.com/

On Monday, October 26th, we were honored by a
surprise visit from Mrs C Johnson, representing the Alabama Power Foundation. The foundation awarded a $1000 grant to Mrs D’s Science Club
to further the club’s ability to reach out and encourage 5th and 6th
grade Science students.

Mrs
Johnson remarked, “Thank you for all the hard work – please continue to inspire
these young people. We hope that
this grant will allow you to invest in additional field trips or special
experiences in the Science Club.”

Wow! Thanks
very much to the Alabama Power Foundation. We are grateful for your participation and for this generous
grant. We will indeed use these
funds wisely to create new learning opportunities for Science Club members.

The Alabama Power Foundation generously supports educational
and community activities. To learn
more about the foundation or to join with them in giving or volunteering,
checkout their website. Ala Power Foundation

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Oscar Fann from WTVY in Dothan visited the sixth graders last week. He talked to the students about "catastrophic weather events" that occur on Earth! We learned about major volcanic eruptions and huge earthquakes throughout history. Thanks, Mr. Fann! We learned a lot!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

You've probably seen calculators with solar cells -- devices
that never need batteries and in some cases, don't even have an off button. As
long as there's enough light, they seem to work forever. You may also have seen
larger solar panels, perhaps on emergency road signs, call boxes, buoys and
even in parking lots to power the lights.

The sun's light (and all light) contains energy. Usually,
when light hits an object the energy turns into heat, like the warmth you feel
while sitting in the sun. But when light hits certain materials the energy
turns into an electrical current instead, which we can then harness for
power. A solar cell is a device
people can make that takes the energy of sunlight and converts it into
electricity.

WHY DON’T WE SEE MORE APPLICATIONS OF SOLAR ENERGY?

Solar cells are expensive to make and to install. They are not very efficient – meaning
that they for every one unit of light energy they convert to electricity, about
three units are wasted (or converted to heat). In some cases, they are a smart choice, in locations with
long hours of sunlight, or in special applications such as satellites.

HOW ARE SOLAR PANELS LIKE LEAVES ON A TREE?

Solar panels CONVERT energy from the sun into
electricity. Leaves on plants and
trees CONVERT energy from the sun into chemical energy. This process is called photosynthesis.

THINK LIKE A SCIENTIST AND EARN A REWARD

You are the scientist who is in charge of a new electrical power
system for GW Long Elementary. The
Governor of Alabama is requiring that you use one of these methods to power the
school:

Solar Energy

Wind Energy

Energy Derived from Water (Rivers)

In your first meeting with the Governor, he provided you three maps to use in your study.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Attention students: Do not skip breakfast — or your grades
could pay a price. Evidence suggests that eating breakfast really does help
kids learn. After fasting all night, a developing body (and brain) needs a
fresh supply of glucose — or blood sugar. That's the brain's basic fuel."Without glucose," explains Terrill
Bravender, professor of pediatrics at Duke University, "our brain simply
doesn't operate as well. People have difficulty understanding new information, they have a problem with visual and spatial understanding, and they don't
remember things as well."

Sugary cereals get into your body quickly and cause a peak
in blood-sugar levels, but the levels then fall dramatically after two hours or
so. Oatmeal, on the other hand, is absorbed slowly, so oatmeal eaters gets a
slow rise in blood sugar and enough energy to last through the morning.

To keep your brain powered up, the first meal of the day
should be rich in protein and good carbohydrates — the whole-grain variety that
will sustain you for a long spell rather than the sugary kind that will push
your blood sugar up, then let it fall. Here are some breakfast recommendations
from the experts:

Peanut butter and jelly on multigrain bread

Whole-grain cereals, hot or cold, with low-fat milk or
yogurt and 1-2 tablespoons of slivered nuts on top.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

We are excited to report that GW Long has had discussions with a corporate sponsor about the possibility of constructing an OUTDOOR CLASSROOM for our school!! What's an outdoor classroom? Checkout this link for more information and check back with our website for updates ! Outdoor Classrooms Link

Monday, September 3, 2012

Google has collected and integrated photos and data from
satellites, aircraft, and cars to give us an incredible new way to look at our
world. Google doesn't shoot its
own images. There are a handful of companies that do that. But GoogleEarth has
designed software that knits it all together so it feels like we're zooming in.

GoogleEarth has an addition called "street level"
mapping. Basically it's a rig on top of a vehicle containing eight cameras,
covering a full circle as it slowly drives along, snapping digital images.

EARN A REWARD!
Learn to use GoogleEarth and complete these exercises.

You will need GoogleEarth on your computer to complete this
exercise. You are welcome to use a
computer in Mrs D's class. If you want to
install GoogleEarth on your home computer, BE
SURE TO FIRST GET PERMISSION FROM YOUR PARENTS. If you have not used GoogleEarth or just want to brush up on the features, click on this link to get short tutorials. http://www.google.com/earth/learn/beginner.html

To earn your reward, put your answers on paper and turn in to Mrs D before class time on Friday, September 7th. Have fun!

FIND PLACES AND THINGS

Type in these LAT LON coordinates. 51.997915,8.49231 Who do you see at this location?

Type in “Cape Cod”.
Zoom in on the northern tip of the cape. What is the name of the town?

Type in your street address. Does GoogleEarth have a view of your house (yes or
no)?

TURN ON LAYERS TO GET MORE INFORMATION

Turn on layers for volcanoes (under Layers - Gallery). Now go to the island of Hawaii. How many volcanoes are on this island?

Turn on labels for webcams.travel. Now search on Martha’s Vineyard and find the webcam for Martha's
Vineyard, Edgartown Harbor from the Vineyard Square. Click on the webcam….. write down what you see in the webcam
photo.

MARK SOMETHING WITH A PLACEMARK

Find a place that interests you. It might be your house, or a ball field, or the Statue of
Liberty. Add a placemark at this
location and give the placemark a name.
For example, Mrs D put a placemark on Bryant-Denny stadium in Tuscaloosa and added the
name “Cam owns this place!” Print
a copy of your GoogleEarth screen showing your placemark or just record what
you did on your paper.

MEASURE A DISTANCE

Using the ruler tool, measure the distance of the longest
runway at John F Kennedy airport in New York.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Exactly how do scientists take measurements of hurricanes
and predict their movement?

Ground weather stations? – Yes!

Weather balloons? - Yes!

Satellite imagery? – Yes!

And believe it or not, scientist even fly aircraft DIRECTLY
INTO HURRICANES to better understand the storms and to provide real-time information to help meteorologists better forecast where these storms are headed. Check out this video to see how brave pilots and crew
members fly straight into these storms! Hurricane Hunters

EARN A REWARD!! Do some research to find answers to these questions. Write your answers on paper and present to Mrs D by class time on
Friday, 31 August to receive a reward!

What type of aircraft are used to fly the “Hurricane Hunter”
missions? (Name at least two.)

What term is used for the middle of the hurricane?

Which way do hurricanes rotate, clockwise or
counterclockwise?

The Saffir-Simpson scale is used to rate the strength of a
hurricane and it has five categories.
What wind speeds are associated with each category?

What months are considered “hurricane season”?

Think all of this is fascinating? Tune into the new show "Hurricane Hunters" on The Weather Channel, Monday evenings at 8pm Central. TWC - Hurricane Hunters Show

Michael Phelps, a swimmer from Baltimore
has now won more gold medals than anybody else in Olympic history. What makes Michael Phelps so
good? Do Phelps' body shape and
flexibility give the gold-medal winner a physical edge in swimming? Beyond his drive to succeed, and his undoubtedly good
training, could it be that a good bit of his talent
just boils down to simple anatomy? Here are some thoughts from Dr H. Richard Weiner an internist, former team
physician, and former All-American
swimmer...

What do you think
about the notions about Phelps’s built-in, anatomical advantages?

When someone does something impressive, like winning gold
medals in swimming, we try to come up with some far-fetched reason for it, like
he or she has to have some bizarre physiological adaptation or freaky anatomy.
But most things that you measure in human beings fall within predictable
ranges.

What do you think
accounts for Phelps’s success then?

Phelps has very good stroke mechanics—that certainly goes
a long way. Some people also have better “locomotive genius”—this
is when swimmers have that sense of moving the water around them and how much
water they are displacing.

Why do you think these
ideas of physiological advantage are often repeated?

I guess it’s hard for people just to believe that it can
just be stroke mechanics for Phelps or any other swimmer. Unless a seemingly
suitable explanation comes up, people then think that this individual must be
cheating or doping. It couldn’t just be that the guy trained his guts out.

So do you think there
is anything to these “natural physical gift” arguments?

I’m sure if we could measure Phelps as much as we would
like, we would find attributes better than average for swimming, but I don’t
think we would find any glaring abnormalities.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

In November of last year, scientists launched the Mars
Science Laboratory which will touch down on the surface of Mars at 12:30 CDT on
August 6th – (really late Sunday nite). The lab is a roving vehicle called Curiosity and its mission
is to perform experiments to unlock the history of Mars. Curiosity will take samples of soil,
rock, and the Martian atmosphere.
The record of the planet’s climate and geology is literally recorded in
the rocks and soil.

So what is the “7 minutes of terror? The spacecraft’s final descent to Mars
takes seven minutes but it takes fourteen minutes for a radio signal to travel
from Mars to the earth. By the
time that scientists receive a message from Curiosity, it will have already
safely arrived or have crashed on Mars seven minutes earlier.

Check out this video to see how Curiosity will descend to
the surface of Mars.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Mrs D just returned from the National Science Teachers
Association national conference in Indianapolis.Thanks very much to Dale County Schools for
sponsoring this opportunity!

Science teachers are students too and this conference was a
great opportunity to work with scientists and educators from across the country
to learn more about science, learn new teaching methods and tools.

Some highlights of this trip:

Visit to the National Weather Service in Indianapolis

Met Bill Nye the Science Guy and learned about his newest
venture – The Planetary Society

Developed programs for Lego robots with other teachers and
experts

Scientists from the Air Force Museum in Ohio taught short
course on mechanics of flight

Learned cool new methods for creating Science notebooks

Talked with Scientist from Florida State in Tallahassee
where they have some of the world’s strongest magnets.(Hoping he will be able to visit GW Long
Elementary!)

Looking forward to sharing new ideas and materials with our
5th and 6th grade students!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Newton’s Laws – who cares? Right?Actually, Newton observed nature and realized that there are
some very simple patterns that govern the way forces and matter act.One of his observations is called “Newton’s
First Law of Motion” or “the Law of Inertia”.

An object at rest tends to stay at rest (unless a force acts
on it)

An object in motion tends to stay in motion (unless a force
acts on it)

Think about it.Have you ever seen a rock start to move on its own?Ever seen a book fly across the room
without help?Probably not….
Because objects at rest tend to stay at rest.

Ever get concerned that the earth will simply stop flying
around the sun?When throwing a
baseball do you ever worry that the ball will just stop in midair and
fall?Nope! Because objects in
motion tend to stay in motion.

EARN A REWARD!!

For this experiment, you will need a marble (or a small ball), a tape measure,
and one empty paper towel roll. You will also need to download and print the form at this link. Experiment Record Form (If you are unable to get to the link, Mrs D will provide you a copy of the form.)

First, place the marble on the floor and mark its
position.Wait 60 seconds and
record how far the marble moved on its own.Wait 60 more seconds and record how far the marble
moved.Did the marble move?Explain what you observed.

Create a ramp with the paper towel roll by holding one end 6
inches off the floor and allowing the other end to rest on the floor.Release the marble into the paper towel
roll and allow the marble to roll across the floor until it stops.Measure how far the marble rolled
across the floor.Perform this
experiment three times and record your results each time.

Now select a different floor surface (one that is rougher or
smoother than the first) and do the experiment again three times.Record your results.

To Receive a Reward – Complete the following by class time
on Friday, 16 March.

Conduct the experiment described above.

Record your results and answer all of the questions on the form that you downloaded. Turn in your form to Mrs D and be prepared to tell her what you learned.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

You won’t see this aircraft at the Dothan airport anytime
soon – it’s just too big. The
Airbus A380 is the world's biggest jet airliner and the first to have two decks
along its full length. It accommodates 525 passengers in a standard
configuration, almost 100 more than the rival Boeing 747, the next
biggest.

The A380 is built in Europe by Airbus and is labeled the
“gentle giant” because while it is a super-jumbo, its engines burn much less fuel
and it is designed to meet demanding noise limits.

Check out this link to see time lapse video of this monster aircraft being assembled.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

At an isolated weather station in the central United States,
a technician emerges from a small brick shed grasping a balloon. It's not just
any birthday party balloon, mind you, but a massive, white sphere more than 5
feet (1.5 meters) in diameter. In the other hand, the scientist grasps a
radiosonde, a lightweight cardboard box filled with scientific instruments
that's tied to the bottom of the balloon. Striding out into an empty clearing,
he gently releases the balloon and radiosonde.

After an hour, the balloon has ascended to almost 100,000
feet. Below, the Earth's features
are obscured by a thick layer of cloud. Above, the blue sky has faded to dark
black. It's a beautiful sight, one only seen by a handful of astronauts and
test pilots.

For the balloon, these breathtaking views will be its last
moments. All throughout its ascent, the balloon has been expanding…. It is now
the size of a moving truck. Stretched to its limit, the balloon bursts and
sends the tiny radiosonde plummeting back toward Earth. Within seconds, the
wind catches a small, orange parachute and slows the device's descent.

Each day, hundreds of weather balloons around the world
undertake this dramatic, near-space voyage. More than 70 years after scientists
sent up the first experimental weather balloon, they remain the workhorses of
modern meteorological forecasts. Whether it's a tornado warning or the weather
report on the 6 o'clock news, weather balloons are what keep people on the
ground tuned in to the meteorological workings of the upper atmosphere.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Super Bowl Sunday - Giants vs Patriots ! Did you know that each player on the field is protected by a number of devices designed by scientists? Shoes, leg pads, shoulder pads, kevlar vests .... and the most important of all: the helmet. Helmets are designed to protect heads and faces and they are constantly improved. Take a look at some football helmets dating back almost 100 years and look at the changes.

EARN A REWARD - Examine the helmets on the attached photo and do some online research..... or even ask a football coach about helmet design improvements. To get your reward, do the following and bring to class on or before Friday, 10 February.

(1) List the requirements for a good football helmet - identify at least six requirements
(2) List improvements in football helmet design in the past 100 years - identify at least six improvements
(3) Identify a sports related safety device that needs to be invented or improved upon. (a) Describe it, (b) list at least three benefits of this device, (c) draw a picture of how it might look, (d) define the material you might use to make it.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The
Science club at GW Long is made up of more than twenty 5th and 6th
grade students. Last Friday, members
competed in a challenge called "Survive or Splat”. Students were divided into teams, each team
was given a bag of approved materials and a raw egg. The goal was to create a safe package that
could protect the egg from cracking when dropped from nearly 30 feet in the
air! Students worked diligently for 30
minutes on their project. Out of seven
teams, 5 survived and only 2 went “Splat”! Photos of our teams and their egg drop entries are shown below.

“The
“Survive or Splat” activity is a great way to really engage students in
creative and scientific thinking. While
students dream up and test ideas, they are so absorbed in “thinking” that they don’t even realize they
are learning!” says Anne Durrance – the
teacher who heads up the group.

In
addition to “Survive or Splat”, Science club students participate in robotics –
learning to build and program robots.
They have also started a recycling program for plastics and ink
cartridges.

(Special
thanks to Mr. Whatley and Pea River for providing a truck to drop the eggs!)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Like watching action scenes in movies? Love to see those close-up TV shots
(that make you feel like you are on the field) with your favorite football
team? If the answer is “yes”, say “thanks” to Garrett Brown, professional
filmographer, cameraman, and inventor.
Brown has invented numerous tools including the Steadicam and the
SkyCam. Checkout these links to
see how the SkyCam actually works and to get some more info on Garrett Brown.